bhaktajan

Air Too Dirty to Breathe in 345 Counties By H. JOSEF HEBERT, AP Posted: 2008-03-13 23:08:26 Filed Under: Health News, Nation News, Science News WASHINGTON (March 13) - The air in hundreds of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government said Wednesday, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in cities and towns nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency announced it was tightening the amount of ozone, commonly known as smog, that will be allowed in the air. But the lower standard still falls short of what most health experts say is needed to significantly reduce heart and asthma attacks from breathing smog-clogged air. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called the new smog requirements "the most stringent standards ever," and he said they will require 345 counties - out of more than 700 that are monitored - to make air quality improvements because they now have dirtier air than is healthy. Johnson said that state and local officials have considerable time to meet the new requirements - as much as 20 years for some that have the most serious pollution problems. EPA estimates that by 2020 the number of counties failing to meet the new health standard will drop to about 28. About 85 counties fall short of the old standard enacted a decade ago. Johnson's decision is likely to be met with sharp criticism from health experts and some members of Congress because it goes counter to the recommendations of two of his agency's scientific advisory panels - one on air quality and the other on protection of children. The new EPA standard will lower the allowable concentration of ozone in the air to no more than 75 parts per billion, compared with the old standard of 80. The science boards had told the agency that limits of 60 to 70 parts per billion are needed to protect the nation's most vulnerable citizens, especially children, the elderly and people suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Johnson said he took those recommendations into account, but disagreed with the scientists. "In the end it is a judgment. I followed my obligation. I followed the law. I adhered to the science," said Johnson in a conference call with reporters. Johnson said he did not take into account the cost of meeting the new requirements. States and counties would have to require emission reductions from factories, power plants and cars to meet the tougher health rules. The EPA has estimated that compliance with a 75 parts per billion smog standard would cost as much as $8.8 billion a year by 2020 when many of the counties are expected to be meeting the requirement. That estimate, however, does not take into account balancing reductions in health care costs that could be even greater. Electric utilities, oil companies and other businesses had lobbied hard for leaving the smog rule alone, saying the high cost of lower limits could hurt the economy. The federal Clean Air Act requires that health standards for ozone and a handful of other air pollutants not take costs into account. But Johnson said that ought to change. He said the Bush administration plans to propose legislation to Congress to overhaul the 1970 law so that in the future costs can be considered when setting health standards. Any such move is likely to be met with strong opposition in Congress. Health experts and environmentalists view the setting of health standards without consideration of cost as essential for assuring public health. Clean air advocates called the latest EPA reduction a move in the right direction - but also a political compromise that did not go far enough. "It's disheartening that once again EPA has missed a critical opportunity to protect public health and welfare by ignoring the unanimous recommendations of its independent science advisers," said William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, whose members will be developing programs to meet the federal air quality requirement. Becker acknowledged that the tighter the standard the more difficult it will be to meet, but he said: "The public deserves the right to know whether the air they breathe is healthy." In recent weeks, some of the most powerful industry groups in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> have waged an intense lobbying campaign at the White House, urging the administration to keep the current standard. Electric utilities, the oil and chemical industries and manufacturing groups argued that lowering the standard would require states and local officials to impose new pollution controls, harming economic growth, when the science has yet to determine the health benefits conclusively. The 80 parts per billion standard was enacted by the EPA in 1997, but its implementation was delayed for several years because of court challenges by industry groups. "Hundreds of counties haven't been able to meet the current standard set a decade ago," said John Kinsman, senior director for environment at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents most of the country's power companies. "Moving the goalpost again will inflict economic hardship on those areas without speeding air quality improvements." The EPA has said, based on various studies, cutting smog from 80 to 75 parts per billion would prevent between 900 and 1,100 premature deaths a year and mean 1,400 fewer nonfatal heart attacks and 5,600 fewer hospital or emergency room visits. A separate study suggests that tightening the standard to 70 parts per billion could avoid as many s 3,800 premature deaths nationwide. The EPA by law is not supposed to consider economic cost in establishing the federal health standard for air quality. The agency has estimated that new pollution control efforts to comply with a 75 parts per billion standard would cost as much as $8.8 billion a year, although it acknowledged that does not take into account reductions in health care costs that could be even greater. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 2008-03-13 09:42:56 <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>—Sampling of Counties With Poor Air Quality: <st1:City w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:City> County, <st1:State w:st="on">Pa.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:City> exceeds EPA guidelines by 20 percent. Kern County, <st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Bakersfield</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State></st1:place>, exceeds EPA guidelines by 68.2 percent. East Baton Rouge Parish, <st1:State w:st="on">La.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Baton Rouge</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">La.</st1:State></st1:place>, exceeds EPA guidelines by 21.3 percent. Lake County, Ind. Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Gary</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ind.</st1:State></st1:place>, exceeds EPA guidelines by 2.7 percent. <st1:City w:st="on">Fulton</st1:City> County, <st1:State w:st="on">Ga.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes parts of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:place></st1:City> exceeds EPA guidelines by 21.3 percent. <st1:City w:st="on">New Haven</st1:City> County, <st1:State w:st="on">Conn.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">New Haven</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Conn.</st1:State></st1:place>, exceeds EPA guidelines by 17.3 percent. <st1:City w:st="on">Hamilton</st1:City> County, <st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Cincinnati</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State></st1:place>, exceeds EPA guidelines by 9.3 percent. Harris County, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes parts of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Houston</st1:place></st1:City> exceeds EPA guidelines by 72.8 percent. Salt Lake County, <st1:State w:st="on">Utah</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> exceeds EPA guidelines by 6.7 percent. <st1:City w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City> County, <st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State> Air pollution in the county that includes <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> exceeds EPA guidelines by 70 percent. District of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Columbia</st1:place></st1:City> Air pollution in the county that includes Washington, D.C., exceeds EPA guidelines by 13.3 percent. Sources: AP, epa.gov Most Toxic Cities in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>: Last year, Environmental Data Resources ranked <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s most toxic cities, defined by the amount of man-made chemical in each area's soil. Click through the photos to see the top 10. 10. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cincinnati</st1:place></st1:City> | Contaminated Sites: 22,992 Leaking storage tanks: 1,719 | Corrective action reports: 44 9. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 46,299 Leaking storage tanks: 1,333 Corrective action reports: 30 8. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 64,541 Leaking storage tanks: 5,458 Corrective action reports: 70 7. San Diego Contaminated Sites: 51,009 Leaking storage tanks: 3,740 Corrective action reports: 18 6. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indianapolis</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 33,857 Leaking storage tanks: 1,206 Corrective action reports: 34 5. Minneapolis-St. Paul Contaminated Sites: 65,969 Leaking storage tanks: 4,444 Corrective action reports: 52 4. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 271,360 Leaking storage tanks: 9,920 Corrective action reports: 159 3. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Portland</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 62,466 Leaking storage tanks: 20,655 Corrective action reports: 10 2. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Milwaukee</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 47,531 Leaking storage tanks: 3,872 Corrective action reports: 41 1. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 88,284 Leaking storage tanks: 0 Corrective action reports: 23 Source: businessweek.com

Let us be kinder and gentler to our sincere friend and wellwisher and remember the injunction to get them to do some bhakti before moving on with the caravan. Wishing well with all my strength, Bhaktajan .................................................................................................. Bhagavad-gita 3.26 na buddhi-bhedam janayed ajnanam karma-sanginam josayet sarva-karmani vidvan yuktah samacaran SYNONYMS na—not; buddhi-bhedam—disruption of intelligence; janayet—he should cause; ajnanam—of the foolish; karma-sanginam—who are attached to fruitive work; josayet—he should dovetail; sarva—all; karmani—work; vidvan—a learned person; yuktah—engaged; samacaran—practicing. TRANSLATION "So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities [for the gradual development of PURPORT Vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah. That is the end of all Vedic rituals. All rituals, all performances of sacrifices, and everything that is put into the Vedas, including all direction for material activities, are meant for understanding <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comKrishna</st1:place> consciousness]." /><st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, who is the ultimate goal of life. But because the conditioned souls do not know anything beyond sense gratification, they study the Vedas to that end. But through fruitive activities and sense gratification regulated by the Vedic rituals one is gradually elevated to <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> consciousness. Therefore a realized soul in Krishna consciousness should not disturb others in their activities or understanding, but he should act by showing how the results of all work can be dedicated to the service of <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place>. The learned <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> conscious person may act in such a way that the ignorant person working for sense gratification may learn how to act and how to behave. . . . Although the ignorant man is not to be disturbed in his activities, . . . by direct <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> consciousness one can have all the results one would otherwise derive from following one’s prescribed duties.

It's a dashed good thing <HR style="COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --> ARJ, What ho Old Chap!, Forgive me for having been presumptous in thinking that you couldn't handle the subject. I can see you now with your thin pencil-line mustashe just over your top lip. The yellow-gold pinky ring(s). The silk paisley colored Brookes-Brothers fashioned shirt with ascot at the empty old British-raj's club in your dottage. Drinking martinis and indian sweets. It's indeed a dashed good thing to know that the Raj is still around. Hoorrah Hoorrah. be seeing you, Bhaktajan <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

............................................................................................. The absolute opposite of the beauty of Bonefide Vaisnava Temple Diety Worship is a dead body. As for example, a head stone with an image of the departed on the Granite stone grave marker etc. ............................................................................................. Originally Posted by son_of_erin2000 but didnt god create this material world out of himself? and if so,every atom would be a part of god? god is with out form, but it is hard to focus on god as void. the murti is there to keep the devotee mindful of god. the devotee knows this is only a symbol of him, not everyone is at the same level of spiritual progress. for some advanced people, simply chanting but for those less advanced, the lord does allow himself to worshiped as haveing form,because that is a great help to those aspireing to reach him. it is his kindness to us,as he knows our limitations. so what is the problem with worshiping him in stone or wood. this is my understanding. ............................................................................................. The Deity is for the beginning neophyte and simple-common person to meditate/see a form that is defined in scripture as the form of the personage of Godhead incarnate and as He is in his original-original form. The Deity in the Temple is the "Dharma & Purpose & Main use of a Temple" since antiquity as it was originally imparted and now passed-down to the present time. Western history (all through and since the days of Buddhist, Judeo-Christian, & Mohamedian influences) was never to perform Deity Worship because: The Murti sadhartha was, is, and will be as per Brahminical Law and order. [What I fear is that foreign influence has found inspiration from the lilas of smriti's heroic figures.] best wellwishes, Bhaktajan

BG 12.5 PURPORT …the path of bhakti-yoga, the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. …The individual soul is embodied since time immemorial. It is very difficult for him to simply theoretically understand that he is not the body. Therefore, the bhakti-yogé accepts the Deity of Kåñëa as worshipable because there is some bodily conception fixed in the mind, which can thus be applied. Of course, worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form within the temple is not idol worship. There is evidence in the Vedic literature that worship may be saguëa and nirguëa—of the Supreme possessing or not possessing attributes. Worship of the Deity in the temple is saguëa worship, for the Lord is represented by material qualities. But the form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord. . . . SB 7.5.23-24 Purport: … The special purpose of Deity worship is to keep oneself always pure and clean. … SB 7.14.39 Purport: . . . It is said in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (11.2.47): “A person who is very faithfully engaged in the worship of the Deity in the temple but does not know how to behave toward devotees or people in general is called a präkåta-bhakta, or kaniñöha-adhikäré.” A präkåta devotee, or neophyte devotee, is still on the material platform. He certainly engages in worshiping the Deity, but he cannot appreciate the activities of a pure devotee. It has actually been seen that even an authorized devotee who is engaged in the service of the Lord by preaching the mission of Kåñëa consciousness is sometimes criticized by neophyte devotees. …For those who cannot properly appreciate the activities of authorized devotees, Deity worship is the only way for spiritual advancement. In the Caitanya-caritämåta (Antya 7.11) it is clearly said, kåñëa-çakti vinä nahe tära pravartana: without being authorized by Kåñëa, one cannot preach the holy name of the Lord throughout the entire world. Nevertheless, a devotee who does so is criticized by neophyte devotees, kaniñöha-adhikärés, who are on the lower stages of devotional service. For them, Deity worship is strongly recommended. SB 7.14.40 Sometimes a neophyte devotee offers all the paraphernalia for worshiping the Lord, and he factually worships the Lord as the Deity, but because he is envious of the authorized devotees of Lord Viñëu, the Lord is never satisfied with his devotional service. PURPORT Deity worship is especially meant for purifying the neophyte devotees. Actually, however, preaching is more important. In Bhagavad-gétä (18.69) it is said, na ca tasmän manuñyeñu kaçcin me priya-kåttamaù: if one wants to be recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he must preach the glories of the Lord. One who worships the Deity must therefore be extremely respectful to preachers; otherwise simply worshiping the Deity will keep one in the lower stage of devotion. SB 11.27.48: Whenever one develops faith in Me—in My form as the Deity or in other bona fide manifestations—one should worship Me in that form. I certainly exist both within all created beings and also separately in My original form, since I am the Supreme Soul of all. PURPORT The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped according to the faith of a particular worshiper. The Deity form, arcä, is specifically mentioned here because Deity worship is essential for spiritual progress. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura mentions that inexperienced persons may think that the Deity is meant for the sense gratification of the worshiper, since superficially the Deity is made of external substances such as marble or brass. But through the process of installing the Deity by chanting of authorized mantras, one invites the Supreme Personality of Godhead to enter the Deity form. By regulated, faithful worship one gradually understands that the Deity is completely nondifferent from the Supreme Lord Himself. At that stage, on the strength of Deity worship, one rises to the second-class platform of devotional service. At this more developed stage one desires to make friendship with other devotees of the Lord, and as one becomes solidly established in the community of Vaiñëavas, one completely gives up material life and gradually becomes perfect in Kåñëa consciousness. Madhya 13.139: “My dear Kåñëa, formerly, when You were staying in Mathurä, You sent Uddhava to teach Me speculative knowledge and mystic yoga. Now You Yourself are speaking the same thing, but My mind doesn’t accept it. There is no place in My mind for jïäna-yoga or dhyäna-yoga. Although You know Me very well, You are still instructing Me in jïäna-yoga and dhyäna-yoga. It is not right for You to do so.” PURPORT The process of mystic yoga, the speculative method for searching out the Supreme Absolute Truth, does not appeal to one who is always absorbed in thoughts of Kåñëa. A devotee is not at all interested in speculative activities. Instead of cultivating speculative knowledge or practicing mystic yoga, a devotee should worship the Deity in the temple and continuously engage in the Lord’s service. Deity</ST1:P worship is realized by the devotees to be the same as direct service to the Lord. The Deity is known as the arcä-vigraha or arcä-avatära, an incarnation of the Supreme Lord in the form of a material manifestation (brass, stone or wood). Ultimately there is no difference between Kåñëa manifest in matter or Kåñëa manifest in spirit because both are His energies. For Kåñëa, there is no distinction between matter and spirit. His manifestation in material form, therefore, is as good as His original form, sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [bs. 5.1]. A devotee constantly engaged in Deity worship according to the rules and regulations laid down in the çästras and given by the spiritual master realizes gradually that he is in direct contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he loses all interest in so-called meditation, yoga practice and mental speculation. SC 21: …There is no need of any other performances. Nevertheless, to keep oneself clean in habits and mind, Deity worship and other regulative principles are required. Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that although saìkértana is sufficient for the perfection of life, worship of the Deity in the temple must continue so that the devotees may stay clean and pure. Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (NOD) chap 30: … Deity worship should be done very carefully: the dress should be changed daily, and as far as possible there should be ornaments. Everything should be so clean that the Deity is attractive to all visitors. Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (NOD) chap 9: … In the Dvärakä-mähätmya the importance of dancing before the Deity is stated by Lord Kåñëa as follows: “A person who is in a jubilant spirit, who feels profound devotional ecstasy while dancing before Me, and who manifests different features of bodily expression can burn away all the accumulated sinful reactions he has stocked up for many, many thousands of years.” In the same book there is a statement by Närada wherein he asserts, “From the body of any person who claps and dances before the Deity, showing manifestations of ecstasy, all the birds of sinful activities fly away upward.” Just as by clapping the hands one can cause many birds to fly away, similarly the birds of all sinful activities which are sitting on the body can be made to fly away simply by dancing and clapping before the Deity of Kåñëa. … … the worship of Kåñëa should be performed in just the way that a king is worshiped in his palace. So in Våndävana there are many hundreds of temples wherein the Deity is worshiped exactly like a king. … a person who is engaged in the worship of the Deities can minimize his stock of sinful reactions coming from many, many previous births. … In the Agni Puräëa it is stated, “Any person who in gladness sees the worship of the Deity in the temple will obtain the results of kriyä-yoga which are described in the Païcarätra scripture.” Kriyä-yoga is a system of practice much like practical devotional service, but it is especially meant for the mystic yogés. In other words, by this gradual process the mystic yogés are eventually elevated to the devotional service of the Lord. ................................................................................................................................... now can I be your servant too? Bhaktajan

Trying to "serve you up" to Krishna.

[moderator'note: post removed] I have no reason to answer his questions. I will speak my mind. I must be in a unique position if I am the "offender" "Now, still my post is an embarrassment due to it's rudeness."

Originally Posted by Beggar A) . . . This means that their levels of piety were obtained in the previous creation before dissolution. So your argument fails. B) . . . Now what about the first time the material world is created? From the viewpoint of eternity, there is no first time, the cycle of creation and dissolution of the material world is perpetual or nitya, anadi - without beginning. ................................................................................................. Bhaktajan's rebuttal: A) My argument is that the 'level of piety to: be born of Vishnu, receive the Vedas while strolling wth Krsna in Vaikuntha, create the material cosmos, populate the cosmos with Devas, Live longer than any being in the cosmos--this is a result of being granted a benediction from above to allow one the chance to be lord of all Brahma surveys. I have no knowledge of where in sastra a Jiva has risen/ascended ['piety obtained in the previous creation before dissolution'--I may be wrong here?] to the level of a Brahmaji, nor, now that I think about it, nor do I know of a Jiva rising up to assume the position of a Deva-superintendent-manager of the material cosmic affairs. Nor do I have knowledge of Brahma's being born as a result of material karma-kanda expertise tapasyas and yajnas. B) 'the material world is perpetual or nitya, anadi - without beginning.'--but you think that the evidence and logic points toward the jivas being born with from unconscious-ness and ignorance??? thank me, you're welcomed, my honor and pleasure to serve you up, Bhaktajan PS: an inadvance: "thank me, you're welcomed, my honor and pleasure to serve you up, each and every time"

A Challenger your self-Test custom scribed for beggers sensibilities: Lord Balarama (Krishna's brother) came from the brahmajyoti emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord and Balarama is a "spiritual spark"as are individual entities --- with the full sense of existence. thank me, you're welcomed, my honor and pleasure to serve you up, Bhaktajan

The puranas are filled with stories of so many devotees, saints and door keepers and little boys and avadhutas getting their visas stamped over and over again as they set up and strike stage sets. Brahma's first birth is in the Material world--after so much accumulated piety--so much piety from ascending from a unconscious nidra sleep in the brahmajyoti? Brahma's piety was only good enough 'to relegate him to the material world'-- Brahma's path to enlightenment and moksa is all about his re-gaining his original pre-birth status--return home, back to Godhead, back to vaikuntha. ys, Bhaktajan PS: Kula, at least, as you counter-argue, you know clearly what is stated by Srila Prabhupada and his devotees' devotees as the origins of the jiva.

Sri Isopanisad Mantra #17: "Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You." PURPORT [by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]: The temporary material body is certainly a foreign dress. The Bhagavad-gita (2.20) clearly says that after the destruction of the material body the living entity is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity. The identity of the living entity is never impersonal or formless; on the contrary, it is the material dress that is formless and that takes a shape according to the form of the indestructible person. No living entity is originally formless, as is wrongly thought by those with a poor fund of knowledge. This mantra verifies the fact that the living entity exists after the annihilation of the material body. In the material world, material nature displays wonderful workmanship by creating varieties of bodies for the living beings according to their propensities for sense gratification. The living entity who wants to taste stool is given a material body that is quite suitable for eating stool—that of a hog. . . . As we have learned from previous mantras, the brahmajyoti emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord is full of spiritual sparks that are individual entities with the full sense of existence. (Bhaktajan's note: Herein now, Srila Prabhupada does not state "how nor by whom living entities, who want to enjoy," are consigned—but just that they are consigned.) Sometimes these living entities want to enjoy their senses, and therefore they are placed in the material world to become false lords under the dictation of the senses. The desire for lordship is the material disease of the living being, for under the spell of sense enjoyment he transmigrates through the various bodies manifested in the material world. Becoming one with the brahmajyoti does not represent mature knowledge. Only by surrendering unto the Lord completely and developing one’s sense of spiritual service does one reach the highest perfectional stage. In this mantra the living entity prays to enter the spiritual <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comkingdom </ST1:Pof <ST1:PGod </st1:place>after relinquishing his material body and material air. The devotee prays to the Lord to remember his activities and the sacrifices he has performed before his material body is turned into ashes. He makes this prayer at the time of death, with full consciousness of his past deeds and of the ultimate goal. One who is completely under the rule of material nature remembers the heinous activities he performed during the existence of his material body, and consequently he gets another material body after death. . . . The facilities of devotional service are denied the impersonalists because they are attached to the brahmajyoti feature of the Lord. As suggested in the previous mantras, they cannot penetrate the brahma-jyoti because they do not believe in the personality of Godhead. Their business is mostly word jugglery and mental speculation. Consequently the impersonalists pursue a fruitless labor, as confirmed in the Twelfth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita (12.5). All the facilities suggested in this mantra can be easily obtained by constant contact with the personal feature of the Absolute Truth. Devotional service to the Lord consists essentially of nine transcendental activities: (1) hearing about the Lord, (2) glorifying the Lord, (3) remembering the Lord, (4) serving the lotus feet of the Lord, (5) worshiping the Lord, (6) offering prayers to the Lord, (7) serving the Lord, (8) enjoying friendly association with the Lord, and (9) surrendering everything unto the Lord. These nine principles of devotional service—taken all together or one by one—help a devotee remain constantly in touch with God. In this way, at the end of life it is easy for the devotee to remember the Lord. By adopting only one of these nine principles, the following renowned devotees of the Lord were able to achieve the highest perfection: . . .

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Decline of Buddhism in India, in the land of its birth occurred for a variety of reasons, and happened even as it continued to flourish beyond the frontiers of India. <SUP class=reference id=_ref-Thai14_0>[1]</SUP> Buddhism was established in the area of ancient Magadha and Kosala by Gautama Buddha in the 6th century BCE, in what is now modern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. <SUP class=reference id=_ref-Merriam155_0>[2]</SUP> Buddhism, over the next 1500 years became the region's dominant belief system, spreading across the Indian sub-continent (see History of Buddhism). After the death of Gautama Buddha, Buddhism saw rapid expansion in its first century, especially in northern and central India. <SUP class=reference id=_ref-Merriam155_1>[2]</SUP> The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304-232 BCE) and later monarchs encouraged the expansion of Buddhism into Asia through religious ambassadors. Hindu monarchs endorsed the religion (viewing it as their own.) National Geographic reads, "The flow between faiths was such that for hundreds of years, almost all Buddhist temples, including the ones at Ajanta, were built under the rule and patronage of Hindu kings."<SUP class=reference id=_ref-0>[3]</SUP> Chinese scholars traveling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, I-ching, Hui-sheng, and Sung-Yun, began to speak of a decline of the Buddhist sangha, especially in the wake of the White Hun invasion. <SUP class=reference id=_ref-Merriam155_2>[2]</SUP> A continuing decline occurred after the fall of the Pala dynasty in the 12th century CE, continuing with the later destruction of monasteries by Muslim conquerors. <SUP class=reference id=_ref-Merriam155_3>[2]</SUP> Buddhism was virtually extinct by the end of the 19th century. In recent times, Buddhism has seen a revival in India from the influence of Anagarika Dharmapala,Kripasaran Mahasthavir[3],Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Tenzin Gyatso.

India<DL><DD>Further information: History of Buddhism in India </DD></DL>After the end of the Kushans, Buddhism flourished in India during the dynasty of the Guptas (4th-6th century). Mahayana centers of learning were established, especially at Nalanda in north-eastern India, which was to become the largest and most influential Buddhist university for many centuries, with famous teachers such as Nagarjuna. The Gupta style of Buddhist art became very influential from South-East Asia to China as the faith was spreading there. Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire. Indian Buddhism had weakened in the 6th century following the White Hun invasions and Mihirkulas persecution. Xuanzang reports in his travels across India during the 7th century of Buddhism being popular in Andhra, Dhanyakataka, and Dravida which today roughly correspond to the modern day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.[2] While reporting many deserted stupas in the area around modern day Nepal and the persecution of buddhists by Ssanka in the Kingdom of Gouda. (In modern day West Bengal.) Xuanzang compliments the patronage of Harshavardana during the same period. After Harshavardanas kingdom, the rise of many small kingdoms that lead to the rise of the Rajputs across the gangetic plains and marked the end of Buddhist ruling clans along with a sharp decline in royal patronage until a revival under the Pala Empire in the Bengal region. Here Mahayana Buddhism flourished and spread to Bhutan and Sikkim between the 8th and the 12th century before the Palas collapsed under the assault of the Hindu Sena dynasty. The Palas created many temples and a distinctive school of Buddhist art. Xuanzang noted in his travels that in various regions Buddhism was giving way to Jainism and Hinduism.[3] By the 10th century Buddhism had experienced a sharp decline beyond the Pala realms in Bengal under a resurgent Hinduism and the incorporation in Vaishnavite Hinduism of Buddha as the 9th incarnation of Vishnu.[4] A milestone in the decline of Indian Buddhism in the North occurred in 1193 when Turkic Islamic raiders under Muhammad Khilji burnt Nalanda. By the end of the 12th century, following the Islamic conquest of the Buddhist strongholds in Bihar, and the loss of political support coupled with social and caste pressures, the practice of Buddhism retreated to the Himalayan foothills in the North and Sri Lanka in the south. Additionally, the influence of Buddhism also waned due to Hinduism's revival movements such as Advaita, the rise of the bhakti movement and the missionary work of Sufis. <DL><DD>See also: Indian Buddhism and Decline of Buddhism in India </DD></DL>

We should all independently lodge complaints to those in authority--we should very gently and subtly "make our position known" without causing others to panic or even feel pressured by the complaint. Complaint letters should make known that the Local Hare Krishnas in the region do not approve --while also stating that the writer does not seek to bring or cause any action to change the situation --rather the writer seeks to lodge a complaint that is gently written by a local neighbor who is "a Local Hare Krishnas in your city or town". This 'grass-roots' effort will familurize those in authority with what is the moral and ethical priciples held by we followers of the Vedas. ......................................................................................... Below is theoretical type of letter to be circulated just to make people know we are out there--there's an old axiom: "There no bad publicity as long as they spell our name right" ......................................................................................... Dear Sir or Madam (_fill-in a name_), I am writting you to express my revulsion with your standard buisness practice. As I am a Hare Krishna, and you are very likely without any formal training in my field of knowledge, I have the unique honor of most probably being the first Hare Krishna to chastise your local newspaper's exectutive broad members: You should stop advertising meat-eating buisness because the ramifications of such a type of commercial enterprise has only culminated in the 7 deadly sins. Since I am trained in the rules and science of Karma & Karmic re-actions, it is incombent upon me that I inform you of the members Hare Krishnas world wide. The abundance of Headline 'Sins' that your newspaper historically uses as it's bread and butter, more so than 'man bites dog' headlines, shall require your newspaper's principle executives to have a change of heart that will surely put you in 'a dark night of the soul'--for that transition, you will have our collective prayers and wellwishes and guidance available to you. Institutions that depend on the sale of meat products invariblely results in creating a down-ward spiral of mis-fortune and the spread of the ethos of 'le miserables', as is evidenced through-out the last century where every economic mass venture culminated in the lost of lives. The first rule of spiritual life is: "We are not the mundane body, but we are a spirit soul in a material body". The Antithesis of this maxim is an ethos of exploitation (not of spirtual up-liftment) of people by way of their expendability, thus, the common masses cultivate uncontroled lust, criminality, civil rebellion and delinquincy and self-loathing illusion-ments. I realize that I am being pandantic, didactic, and, high-minded but of course as a sincere devotee of Krishna I must be edifying to all mundane minded souls. May you be able to chant Hare Krishna especially by the time of your golden years. Still, after so many years the Hare Krishnas are still preaching the same old transcendental message. Yours in Krishna's service, (__fill-in your name_)

Dark Night of the Soul From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "Dark Night" redirects here. For the film of that name, see Dark Night (film). Dark Night of the Soul is a treatise written by Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross. It has become an expression used to describe a specific phase in a person's spiritual life, a metaphor for a certain loneliness and desolation. Though typically associated with a crisis of faith in the Roman Catholic tradition, it is referenced by spiritual traditions throughout the world. History and Description The phrase "dark night of the soul" emerged from the writings of Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest in the 16th century. Dark Night of the Soul, the name of a poem and its theological commentary, are among the Carmelite priest's most well-known writings. The texts tell of the saint's mystical development and the stages he is subjected to on his journey towards union with God. The Dark Night of the Soul is divided into two books that reflect the two phases of the dark night. The first, that of the soul, is a purification of the senses. The second and more intense of the two stages is that of the spirit, which is the less common of the two. Dark Night of the Soul further describes the ten steps on the ladder of mystical love, previously described by Saint Thomas Aquinas and in part by Aristotle, referred to by medieval Catholic theologians as the Philosopher, for he established justification for the existence of one true God and thus refuted his master, Plato. The text was written while John of the Cross was imprisoned by his Carmelite brothers, who opposed his reformations to the Order. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French Carmelite, underwent similar experience. Centering on doubts about the afterlife, she reportedly told her fellow nuns, "If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into." <SUP id=_ref-nyt_0>[1]</SUP> While this crisis is assured to be temporary in nature, it may be extended. The "dark night" of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Saint Paul of the Cross in the 18th century lasted 45 years, from which he ultimately recovered. Mother Teresa of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Calcutta</st1:place></st1:City>, according to letters released in 2007, "may be the most extensive such case on record", lasting from 1948 almost up until her death in 1997, with only brief interludes of relief between <SUP id=_ref-time_0>[2]</SUP>. Franciscan Friar Father Benedict Groeschel, a friend of Mother Teresa for a large part of her life, claims that "the darkness left" towards the end of her life <SUP id=_ref-groeschel_0>[3]</SUP>.</st1:place></st1:City> The "dark night" might clinically or secularly be described as letting go of one's ego's as it holds back the psyche, thus making room for some form of transformation, perhaps in a person's way of defining him or her self or his or her relationship to God. This interim period can be frightening, hence the perceived "darkness." In the Christian tradition, one who has developed a strong prayer life and consistent devotion to God suddenly finds traditional prayer extremely difficult and unrewarding for an extended period of time during this "dark night." The individual may feel as though God has suddenly abandoned them or that his or her prayer life has collapsed. Rather than resulting in devastation, however, the dark night is perceived by mystics and others to be a blessing in disguise, whereby the individual extends from a state of contemplative prayer to an inability to pray. It is this purgatory, a purgation of the soul, that brings purity and union with God. Such blessings cannot be perceived while the soul suffers this "night." Thus, the Dark Night of the Soul is experienced as a severe test of one's faith that leads to deeper understanding and greater love. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Book by Caroline Myss: Dark Night of the Soul <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">St John</st1:place></st1:City> of the Cross <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape id=_x0000_s1026 title='"Dark Night of the Soul"' style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; Z-INDEX: 1; MARGIN-LEFT: 50pt; WIDTH: 90pt; POSITION: absolute; HEIGHT: 131.25pt; mso-wrap-distance-left: 7.5pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-distance-right: 7.5pt; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-position-horizontal: right; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-vertical-relative: line" alt="Dark Night of the Soul" o:button="t" href="http://store.myss.com/shared/affiliates/?Affiliate=1&Target=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.myss.com%2FProduct1018" type="#_x0000_t75" o:allowoverlap="f"><v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\jtrapani\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg" o:title="dark"></v:imagedata><?xml:namespace prefix = w ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" /><w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></v:shape>While imprisoned in a tiny cell for his attempt to reform the Church, sixteenth-century Spanish mystic John of the Cross composed many of his now classic poems of the soul's longing for God. Written on a scroll smuggled to him by one of his guards, his songs are the ultimate expression of the spiritual seeker's journey from estranged despair to blissful union with the divine. After escaping his captors, John fell into a state of profound ecstasy and wrote Dark Night of the Soul. Later, he added an important commentary to his poem to guide other searching souls along the arduous path to communion with god. Here, for the first time, a scholar unaffliated with the Catholic Church has translated this timeless work. Mirabai Starr, who has studied Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism, lends the seeker's sensibility to John's powerful text and brings this classis work to the twenty-first century in a brilliant and beautiful rendering. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Chakras relate to different spheres of our ouwn individual personal lives. The state of one of the chakras being stunted or drained of energy manifests as a physical malady that reflects which chakra it is related to. The "energy vampires" (and, "crazy-makers") we encounter in life will drain a specific chakra or two of it's inherit enliving qualities and thus leave a person lethargic if not physically/psychically/mentally ill. "Wound-ology" is simply a term to denote people who relate to each other by way of the commonality of a particular mutually shared malady. Thus, each is an 'en-abler' to the other, thus, they revel in the Camaraderie rather than seeking a solution their malady. ............................................................................................................... http://www.myss.com/news/media/ …………………………………………………………………….. Breaking Away from the Seductive Power of the Wound by Debra Hiers Listening to Caroline Myss's audio tapes and reading through her books is like picking up a combination lock in the palm of your hand without knowing the combination and listening intently until you feel the tumblers falling into place and they do fall into place, many times over. Each time I experienced myself living the paradigm shift that Caroline was describing. In encountering Myss's work you may feel a subtle, yet powerful influence entering your consciousness; at other times it is like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer and a voice shouting 'Are you awake yet? You'd better wake up and hear this.' From journalist to publisher to medical intuitive, Caroline Myss's career track has been one that has propelled her forward into a particular awareness of the connecting links between one's life purpose, spiritual journey, and well-being. In the preface to Anatomy of the Spirit she writes, 'I believe we are meant to understand our body-minds as individual spiritual powers expressive of a greater Divine energy. We are meant to discover both our personal power and our shared purpose for being alive within a spiritual context.' I recently had the opportunity to interview her from afar; she was in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Cape Town</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region></st1:place> at the time. She enthusiastically reported, 'I had a workshop this weekend that was 500 people and (over) 300 were turned away. I'm meeting with physicians and health specialists in private workshops so I'm really quite flattered at the way my work has taken off here.' From <st1:country-region w:st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region>, Myss was on her way to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region> and then <st1:country-region w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:country-region> before returning home to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City></st1:place> in late August. We spoke of the challenges Myss had faced in accepting her life's path as a medical intuitive. When I remarked that I sensed that everything she had written about in Anatomy of the Spirit was something she herself had lived through, she exclaimed, 'You got that right!' She went on to say,' I think everyone can say about their work (that) it wasn't easy. It's not an original statement and I'm hardly the first to make it. But I'm certainly one who can say that, because nothing about this has been easy.' For now Myss has arrived at a comfortable plateau with her work, a place where she no longer has to prove its validity. 'Maintaining its validity,' she says, 'is a whole different feeling. I can tell by the way health professionals are interested in what I'm doing and by the number of people who want to become students-that says a great deal about the respectability you've earned. I feel very privileged to be part of the movement to validate the role that the spiritual part of ourselves actually plays in every minute of our lives instead of looking at the spirit as that part of us which reaps the benefits of our life or suffers the consequences. I feel very privileged to be part of the creation of a new language and the new consciousness. You know, I'd rather do this than anything else.' Her life story illustrates for each of us the nature of the spiritual journey. The most important part of finding the way may simply be in the showing up. It has everything to do with living in present time. One brave step gets you to the next, even though it may not be the path you 'think' you should be on. Myss began her career as a journalist with great ambition: to win a Pulitzer prize before turning thirty. As it turned out, she discovered while working at her first newspaper job that she was not particularly 'gifted' in this area. Quitting the newspaper job led to months of gloomy depression. During this time she recalled an encounter with an Athabascan Indian woman in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Alaska</st1:State></st1:place> who told her of spirit medicine and medicine men, and how one knows when it is time to die. Her next step was graduate school in theology, earning a Master's degree in the study of mysticism and schizophrenia. While at a workshop in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Virginia</st1:State></st1:place>, she met Jim and Meredith Young. 'We were all talking about what we'd like to do and we got very enthused about doing something in the human consciousness field, ' she recalls. As a result they founded Stillpoint publishing company in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:State></st1:place>. While she was at Stillpoint a funny thing happened. Although she was in the business of publishing books on alternative healing methods, she 'wasn't the least bit interested in becoming personally involved in them.' She smoked cigarettes and drank coffee by the gallon. A mystical experience was not high on her agenda. And yet a mystical experience was exactly what she got. She became medically clairvoyant. In Anatomy of the Spirit she describes these impressions as impersonal daydreams that came to her. 'No dramatic Åefirst event' ushered my intuitive abilities into my life. They simply woke up inside me, easily, naturally, as if they had always been there,' she writes. As word traveled about her abilities she found that she was soon sandwiching diagnostic health readings in between the reading of manuscripts. This was a confusing and difficult time for her. To begin to make sense of what was happening, Myss introduced herself to Dr. Norman Shealy, founder of the American Holistic Medical Association, at a conference in 1984. A month later he called to test her intuitive abilities with a patient in his office. Convinced of her gifts, Shealy worked with Myss, teaching her the physical anatomy of the body and coaching her intuitive practice towards medical accuracy. As a result of their work together they co-authored The Creation of Health (Stillpoint, 1988). Shortly after the publication of The Creation of Health Caroline was in an automobile accident which gave her the opportunity to 'see' in an unconscious state what clearly was her work to do. She left the publishing company to pursue medical intuition on a full-time basis. And has not skipped a beat since. Anatomy of the Spirit presents a thorough study of the human energy field integrating the Hindu system of the seven chakras, the Kabbalah's Tree of Life, and the seven Christian sacraments. By uniting these three fields of spiritual study, Myss illustrates the ways in which healing is a spiritual undertaking, one that is ongoing. The human energy system described by Myss is an embodiment of these seven sacred truths. Her newest book, Why People Don't Heal and How They Can, due in late October from Harmony Books, picks up where Anatomy of the Spirit left off. In 1988 Myss noticed a shift in what was going on with her workshop participants. There was a general feeling of despair at having tried everything and still not being able to heal. Somehow in spite of all they were doing, change was not occurring on the cellular level where it was needed in order to bring about a complete healing. What she discovered in observing this phenomenon was that sometimes a person's identification with the wounds of their past is so strong that it defines their identity in the present. Furthermore, she observed that it is through the language of wounds that we intimately connect with one another and gain power in our relationships. 'This type of social authority can become very powerful, even addicting-health never demands such clout,' she writes. Myss calls this language 'woundology' and speaks candidly of the seductive power of wounds. She firmly believes that we are not meant to stay wounded, and clearly hopes that people will find her work helpful in letting go of the past and reaching a place of forgiveness. 'I hope people find it very useful, because my intention is to always find more and more ways for people to live better and healthier and I hope I've succeeded with this book.' Healing is a personal journey; it requires both internal and external change and sometimes the changes required in the healing process are more than a person desires to make. Moreover, the fear of change and postponing the changes one needs to make can create a climate of decline in the body's energy field that may make us more susceptible to a particular illness taking root. In this sense Myss's work has meaning for not only those who are physically ill, but for everyone. This is preventive medicine in the truest sense of the word. Myss articulates it this way: 'You know there's a lot more than physical illness...There are very few people you can say are really totally healthy. You're suffering with something; eitheryou're suffering from coping with stress in a relationship or stress at a job. You're going to have some area of your life that isn't the way you want it. So whether that area of your life is your physical body or some form of your environment or your spiritual life is quiet frankly irrelevant ... I wanted to articulate a universal model that could be applied to any area of human Life.' This personal journey finds metaphorical value in the study of the astrological ages. Myss identifies three forms of power-Tribal, Individual, and Symbolic-that have evolved during the Arien, Piscean, and now the Aquarian Age and applies them to the patterns of human growth that every individual experiences. 'I think that by nature we are tribal creatures,' she explains. 'We need each other. The earth is a tribal place. What I teach people in my workshops is that the first place we learn tribal law and tribal interaction is within our biological tribe. It is inevitable that each of us make the journey to recognizing that we are universally tied together as a tribe...We are in a stage of our evolution where I believe the forces of evolution are now saying to us the time has come for you to unite as a planetary tribe. And that's all there is to it. 'So, in that state of evolution one automatically moves from being tribal to having to discover oneself because when you are in a tribe what you believe has been given to you, so you maintain a tribal belief. You have yet to undergo the process of self-discovery but it is inevitable that you have to go through that. So, at some point when you are ready to leave that safety net of a group system, you break off and you begin the journey of discovering who you are and what you believe. 'You see that journey in people all over. And if you sit them down and say who are you and what started this, they will-each one of them-tell you that they didn't get along with their family in some way, shape or form...and its always because our tribe did not allow us the room we wanted.' Myss sees this friction as a natural transition. You turn away from your family or tribe in order to form an individual identity. 'That's the way its supposed to be,' she says. 'That's not a tribal crime. They're doing you a favor if you really understand the system. And you have to go through that state of self-knowing...and that stage can be incredibly lonely because you're not supposed to have interference. You've got to get to know yourself...and then with great consciousness you can choose what you need. Once you get past the fear of being a strong individual...then it seems like you are in a position to begin to look at life more impersonally.' Looking at one's life from an impersonal point of view is akin to practicing the fine art of detachment. Those familiar with the practice of mindfulness meditation will easily see this correlation. In this state of detached observation, past events do not hold power over you. 'As you move through evolution into getting to know oneself,' Myss explains, 'you begin to know what it means to detach from things that have your spirit.' This allows us to 'look at the whole of our lives from a detached impersonal point of view so that we can with consciousness invest our spirit in what we want to or not invest it (in what we don't want to) or discover where it's invested that we have to call it back from. Now you've got great power running through your system. 'What I wanted to do was present a model that helps people do that, (one) that is far more practical than just telling them (to) get detached. Everybody needs help learning how to do that.' .................................................................................................................

Holy Cow! Do you think you have some relavatory observation to make? Buddhism was the state official religion from circa 500BC to 1,000AD in India. No one doubts the extent of University-Level of study available in old India. I asked you questions in my earlier postings--I expect you to address them before you proceed with sophmoric disparagements. My words are carefully choosen an are intended to be read literally and understood literally. THE SHAME INVOKED THROUGH MY REVEALING HIPOCRACY IN THE VERY NOMENCLATURES USE TO DESCRIBE "POLISHED ANIMAL LIFE IN THE HUMAN BEING" IS MISSED BY YOU . . . "Mensa" needs members, you may be missing your vocation--but you would have to prove your 'IQ' to them before presenting some postulations. We Hare Krishna Devotees belong to the Cult of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! I will vent when ever I'd like to. "for your information" . . . I was not venting I was spelling it out for you and other un-knowing readers "What the situation was, what is, and, what it will be". Bollywood Film actors have a temple? Well, ARJ sweetheart, there's also other queer stuff in the world too. You are conflating the two spheres.

That qoute is something I heard from the sages. It is called sruti. I don't know what sastra it is in --probably in Nectar of Devotion(?). It is certainly an estoteric quote by a brijabasi scolding someone for turning their back on Krishna's lila. Such a sense of seperation from Krishna is certainly an spiritually elevated sentiment that can be found only in the sublime Vaisnava literatures. How is that I am to be kidding?

A) Hey Sri Paramatma! Aham Bhaktajan, please give Redsox all Artha, kama, dharma and moksa, all 7 feminine opulences, all good wealth, all good health, all good happiness, an all good mate, and Krishna-Prema. B) Also, make Redsox stop making the gopis cry! As It says somewhere in sastra [correct me if I am wrong]: "I am so sad to see you go, may Krishna give you the intelligence to come back to Him. It pains me when I see a person take a step foward towards Krishna but then decides to walk back again. I enjoyed the times with you when we were naming different names of Krishna. To see you have fallen back from these types of activities gives me much pain." C) Get yourself to a temple feast [this friday is Gaura-Purnima] and eat as much maha-prasadam as can be begged, borrowed, stolen, in exchange for some donation, and or asked for: Then you'll be satiated without doubt. [tip #1: honor the prasadam at a very-very-very slow pace, do not rush] [tip #2: take home as much left over prasadam as possible and repeat the above at home at a very-very-very slow pace]. D) Remember, you were born alone and will die alone unless you know all the devatas are awaiting your "return". ys, bhaktajan

Yeah? And what about it? What else is new? You just noticed Waldo? And what do you guess it says in the Vedanta sutra, any guesses you'd like to share? After all your waking hours studying Vedanta you may now make sweeping declarations about ... hm? ... We like our Buddhists. "Buddhist", "Buddhist-Buddhist", "Buddhist-Buddhist-Buddhist"--it's even fun to say. Even the home boys are fond of Buddhists, Buddhas, Buddhis etc. The Dali lama eats meat? Buddha ate meat? Just because you saw your father eat your grandmother's and your mum's meat, doesn't mean that you can state that everyone is eating meat? sincerely, Bhaktajan PS: Beware of mentally retarded and blind, lame, drug ridden, two-headed beast-flesh. Do buddhist-flesh eaters prefer male or female gendered servings of flesh? Do buddhist-flesh eaters prefer white or dark meat? Do buddhist-flesh eaters prefer breast, quadracepts or spiced sausages of organ-meats in intestinal wrappings?

Breast Cancer Suspects By Francesca Lyman for MSN Health & Fitness Breast cancer clearly has a genetic component, but "routine environmental exposures and lifestyle may play a major role," according to a recent ground-breaking study by the Silent Spring Institute and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The study, published in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, uncovers 216 common chemicals that cause breast tumors in animals and reviews medical literature, including some studies that reveal environmental factors to be influential "in the vast majority of cancers." …………………………………………………………………………………………… Tailpipe Toxins At the top of the list of common, potent mammary carcinogens are components of car and truck exhaust. Included on this list are PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)—products of combustion—which have been linked to breast cancer in men as well as women. Tobacco Smoke Like car and truck exhaust, tobacco smoke is a source of many PAHs. Among these are dibenz[a,h]anthracene, considered by EPA to be “probably carcinogenic to humans” as well as mutagenic—meaning that it can cause genes to mutate. It’s laced with many other cancer-causing substances as well, such as dibenzo[def,p]chrysene. Industrial Combustion Sources Just as components of car exhaust have been linked to breast cancer and a long list of other illnesses, air pollution from refineries and coal plants also compounds the load. Researchers studying air pollution in <st1>:PNew York </st1>:PState found a higher risk of breast cancer among post-menopausal women whose birth addresses were near locations recording higher levels of PAHs. The researchers, who used historic air pollution data dating back to the 1960s to measure these trends, thus suggest that exposure in early life to high levels of PAHs may increase one's risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Drinking Alcohol Most everyone agrees that limiting alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of breast cancer, but the connections get stronger with each new study. Natural cancer-causing substances—primarily urethanes—are found in alcohol, including wine and ale beers. In a recent analysis of six studies that examined 322,647 women, each additional 10 g of alcohol consumed equated to an added 9 percent risk of breast cancer. Toxicants in Food Food can be tainted by pesticides sprayed on crops, antibiotics used on poultry and other meats, and hormones injected into cattle, sheep and hogs. Some foods may increase the risk of breast cancer by increasing circulating levels of estrogen, so Silent Spring researchers advocate additional research in this area. They point to the fact that milk sold in the <st1:city w:st="Erie</st1:City"> and Niagara counties in <st1:place w:st=" /><st1:country-region w:st=" on="">United States</st1:place> (banned in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>) containing insulin-like growth factor 1 may put women at increased risk. Also, grilled or charred meat and fish contain various mutagenic agents that occur naturally in the grilling process. </st1:city> Acrylamides—found in French fries, breads and cereals cooked at very high temperatures—pose problems, as do foods contaminated by styrene from polystyrene (Styrofoam) containers. Fish can also be contaminated with a variety of long-banned chemicals like PCBs, which have been linked to breast cancer, as well as by dioxin, a product of incineration. Ionizing Radiation In 2005, the National Toxicology Program classified x-rays and gamma radiation as causing cancer in humans, but ionizing radiation has long been regarded as the most established environmental risk factor for breast cancer. We're exposed to x-radiation from medical x-rays, mammograms and other radiopharmaceutical treatments. Though these technologies offer great benefits, unnecessary exposure should be avoided. Our greatest exposure to radiation is from the gamma rays in natural sunlight, which also provides us with beneficial Vitamin D. We get increased radiation from plane travel, as a result of greater proximity to the sun's rays and because the radiation is less filtered by clouds and particulates. If you live or work close to nuclear power plants or lived in the era of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons (1945-1980) you will also have accumulated higher doses of this radiation. According to the National Toxicology Program, those radioactive doses are on the wane. Hormone Supplements Researchers broadly agree that women’s exposures to natural estrogens over time increases the risk of breast cancer. However, it is only recently that synthetic estrogens and progesterones have been linked to a higher risk for breast cancer. Findings from the ongoing Million Women Study and the Women’s Health Initiative have found that certain kinds of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), used to alleviate menopausal symptoms, put women at increased risk of breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised women to ask their doctors about the benefits of taking estrogen and progestin compared to the risks—and, if they decide to use them, whether hormones should be taken “at the lowest doses for the shortest duration to reach treatment goals.” Drinking Water Contaminants Disinfecting products used to clean water help kill bacteria and keep disease in check. However, Silent Spring researchers caution that some disinfection byproducts of chlorinating water cause mammary tumors in rodents. There’s strong evidence for their causing cancer in humans as well. Likewise, many drinking water systems across the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> have been found to be contaminated by pesticides and dry cleaning chemicals. Household Chemicals Stain-resistant and flame-retardant chemicals have found their way into our lives—in our carpeting, furniture, clothing, cookware, cosmetics, lubricants, paints, and adhesives. Widely detected in blood samples in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) has been found to cause breast cancer in animals and is under further investigation. Silent Spring Institute researchers also point to chlorinated solvents used in paint removers, varnishes, wood sealants, fabric cleaners, dry cleaning chemicals and septic tank cleaners as being suspected human carcinogens. Gasoline, Benzene, Fuels and Solvents Occupational studies have mainly focused on men, but a few studies on women workers have turned up elevated levels of breast cancer among those exposed to various petrochemical solvents—particularly women working in chemical factories and dry cleaning shops, hairdressers, nurses in health and science laboratories, and electronics industry workers. Benzene, to which we are exposed in gasoline at the pump and in lawn mowers and other appliances that might be stored in garages and basements, is a potent mammary carcinogen, according to Silent Spring researchers. Pharmaceuticals A wide variety of prescription drugs have been found to produce mammary tumors in animals—everything from Reserpine, used for the treatment of mild or moderate hypertension, to Furosemide for pulmonary edema. Many anti-cancer drugs are also known human carcinogens. Check the study's “browse” function under pharmaceuticals. Miscellaneous Chemicals, Dyes, Whitening Agents In January 2003, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported their findings on human exposure to environmental chemicals, revealing some 116 toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in the blood and tissues of human volunteers chosen to represent our population. Among the compounds they found were multiple pesticides linked to breast cancer, dioxins that are products of incineration, and other chemicals. Can our “body burdens” be lightened? Silent Spring researchers advocate reducing as many “preventable” exposures from industrial chemical byproducts as possible. Examples abound: 1,4 dioxane, a contaminant in detergents and shampoos, for example, and fluorescent whitening agents, both have been found to cause breast cancer in animals. The researchers argue that most chemicals used in hair dyes and cosmetics have not been tested for their health effects. Francesca Lyman is the author of several environmental books, including The Greenhouse Trap and Inside the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1>:PDzanga-Sangha Rain Forest</st1></st1:place>. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The <st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state> Post, Ms. Magazine, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:city> Metropolitan, MSNBC Online, This Old House, and Horizon Air magazines.

As Originally Posted by Sucandra in the Thread "What is so great about Krishna": Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; BORDER-TOP: #666666 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid" bgColor=#e0e0e0>Originally Posted by SaiAyurveda The great veil of Maya often tricks us into thinking of ourselves as separate from God and that is always the path of ignorance and leads us into ruin. Om Sai Ram, Arjun </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!-- END TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --> Good point, the tricking of humanity into ignorance seems in full swing. Present leaders of the world attach great importance to providing an external enemy: Nazis, Communists, Muslim Terrorists etc. This in return creates internal enemies based on race, sex and class. Thus the whole setup perfectly diverts our attention from itself, the real enemy - godless leaders, who control our political, cultural and economic life with demoniac skill. They don't even pretend to pose serious opposition. Bush has doubled the national debt and cut the value of the US dollar in half but do you hear any criticism for this? On the international front, president Bush, PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, Ahmadinejad, Sarkozy, Merkel and Putin are all members of the same club. Our leaders work for the international banking cartel, aided by a small army of dupes who may or may not be knowing what they actually trigger but have a keen sense of how to keep their high paying jobs. Their goal, overthrow the values of human civilization and establish a primitive tyranny. In Moscow there is communism, in New York capitalism. It is all the same as thesis and antithesis. Analyse both. Moscow is subjective communism but objectively State capitalism. New York, capitalism subjective, but communism objective. In sum it represents the translation of an economic monopoly into absolute political, social and cultural control and involves the total destruction of the four pillars of dharma. The overthrow of human civilization means the end of the belief that human beings are made in the image of God, i.e. we're spirit souls and have the potential using sadhana to evolve into better creatures living in a happier society in harmony with nature and God. It means the end of the idea that God is our eternal Father who is the organizing principle behind actual human development. Present political leaders consider that they cannot afford the luxury of man's spiritual advancement and conclude to arrest our development by transferring our loyalty from God to atheism. So they teach us there is no such thing as God, scripture or truth. They arrest our personal development by destroying marriage and family using taxation, porn and promiscuity. They are destroying families by brainwashing women to seek careers instead of husbands and good children. You can identify their agents as the people who “want to change the world.” These dupes don't realize that they are making it worse. “Progressive” is defined by their agenda as more and more control and world domination. They don't realize that so called social programs are temporary bribes to put their agents in power. We are fed a diet of lies, trivia, sex and dogmas designed to make us dysfunctional and docile. They want us to be producers and consumers, debtors and drones -- animals, not human beings. It is all closely associated with socialism and communism, as well as with organized crime, to combat knowledge of the real world and to ignore the facts from vedic culture. Only entertainment that advances the atheist program will be tolerated. Literary and cinematic art reflect a decadent godless philosophy and fools us that it serves as an important psychological modification function. Dupes are the overpaid people who maintain the “formal” and hoodwink the masses. This includes most successful people in media, science, education and culture. Peoples lives are built on a monstrous fraud. Gradually we are being mentally enslaved by atheistic leaders. Humanity has passed into a twilight zone of chosing between genuine spirituality and evil tamasic existence. Our only hope - that the spreading of Krishna's Holy Name cannot be stopped. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->....................................................................................... The above describes the situation of mass Karma--Bhaktajan

Vatican lists "new sins," including pollution. By Philip Pullella Posted Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:00am PDT <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<st1:place w:st=" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">VATICAN CITY</st1:place></st1:State> (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place></st1:country-region> has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight. The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils. Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the <st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place> newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics. "(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place></st1:country-region> opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning. Girotti, in an interview headlined "New Forms of Social Sin," also listed "ecological" offences as modern evils. In recent months, Pope Benedict has made several strong appeals for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race. Under Benedict and his predecessor John Paul, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place></st1:country-region> has become progressively "green." It has installed photovoltaic cells on buildings to produce electricity and hosted a scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming and climate change, widely blamed on human use of fossil fuels. Girotti, who is number two in the <st1:place w:st="on">Vatican</st1:place> "Apostolic Penitentiary," which deals with matter of conscience, also listed drug trafficking and social and economic injustices as modern sins. But Girotti also bemoaned that fewer and fewer Catholics go to confession at all. He pointed to a study by <st1:City w:st="on">Milan</st1:City>'s <ST1:PCatholic </ST1:PUniversity that showed that up to 60 percent of Catholic faithful in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> stopped going to confession. In the sacrament of Penance, Catholics confess their sins to a priest who absolves them in God's name. But the same study by the <st1:place w:st="on">Catholic </ST1:PUniversity </st1:place>showed that 30 percent of Italian Catholics believed that there was no need for a priest to be God's intermediary and 20 percent felt uncomfortable talking about their sins to another person.

Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water AP Posted: 2008-03-10 06:49:46 Filed Under: Health News, Nation News, Science News (March 9) - A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe. But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health. In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comDetroit</st1:City> to <st1:place w:st=" /><st1:City w:st="on">Louisville</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ky.</st1:State> Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed. How do the drugs get into the water? People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue. And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife. "We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Environmental Protection Agency. Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states. Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP: --Officials in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:City> said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds. --Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>. --Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern New Jersey</st1:place>, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water. --A sex hormone was detected in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>'s drinking water. --The drinking water for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place>, and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals. --Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tucson</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ariz.</st1:State></st1:place> The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP. The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: <st1:City w:st="on">Houston</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Miami</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Phoenix</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people. Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present. The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28. Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City. The <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer. City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals. In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in <st1:City w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:City> said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a <st1:place w:st="on"><ST1:PTulane </ST1:PUniversity </st1:place> researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water. Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only <st1:City w:st="on">Albuquerque</st1:City>; <st1:City w:st="on">Austin</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State>; and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Virginia Beach</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Va.</st1:State></st1:place>; said tests were negative. The drinking water in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Arlington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></st1:place>, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug. The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in <st1:State w:st="on">Missouri</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State> — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Emporia</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Kan.</st1:State></st1:place>, refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues. Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say. The <ST1:PStroud </ST1:PWater</ST1:Place Research Center in <st1:City w:st="on">Avondale</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Pa.</st1:State>, has measured water samples from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas. He suspects it escapes from failed septic tanks, maybe with other drugs. "Septic systems are essentially small treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to fail," Aufdenkampe said. Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems. Contamination is not confined to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> and Europe — even in Swiss lakes and the <st1:place w:st="on">North Sea</st1:place>. For example, in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>, a study of 20 <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ontario</st1:place></st1:State> drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking water at seven different sites. In the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs. Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen <st1:place w:st="on">Co.</st1:place> "People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals. One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made drinkable. Another issue: There's evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic. Human waste isn't the only source of contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right through the animals. Water sampled downstream of a <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:place></st1:State> feedlot had steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small heads. Other veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute. Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no. "Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby — director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. — said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms." Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation. Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show. Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting. "It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along." With limited research funds, said Shane Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in water. "I think it's a shame that so much money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to just accept that these things are everywhere — every chemical and pharmaceutical could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental." To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater. "We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more." While Grumbles said the EPA had analyzed 287 pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said only one, nitroglycerin, was on the list. Nitroglycerin can be used as a drug for heart problems, but the key reason it's being considered is its widespread use in making explosives. So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. Confidence about human safety is based largely on studies that poison lab animals with much higher amounts. There's growing concern in the scientific community, meanwhile, that certain drugs — or combinations of drugs — may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day. Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive. Many concerns about chronic low-level exposure focus on certain drug classes: chemotherapy that can act as a powerful poison; hormones that can hamper reproduction or development; medicines for depression and epilepsy that can damage the brain or change behavior; antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms; pain relievers and blood-pressure diuretics. For several decades, federal environmental officials and nonprofit watchdog environmental groups have focused on regulated contaminants — pesticides, lead, PCBs — which are present in higher concentrations and clearly pose a health risk. However, some experts say medications may pose a unique danger because, unlike most pollutants, they were crafted to act on the human body. "These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at <ST1:PBrunel </ST1:PUniversity in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City>, who has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs. And while drugs are tested to be safe for humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime. Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at normal medical doses. That's why — aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride injected into potable water supplies — pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water. "We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Albany</st1:place></st1:City>. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 2008-03-09 18:50:12

What's in the Water?: Tests were conducted in 35 of 62 major ffice:smarttags" />U.S. watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply. Pharmaceuticals were detected in 28 of them. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<st1:place w:st=" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:City>: 56 pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutical byproducts, including medicines used to treat pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>: Heart medication, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:City>: Pain reliever naproxen, sex hormone estrone and the byproduct of an anti-cholesterol drug <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place> Watershed: Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place>: Six pharmaceuticals. <st1:place w:st="on">Northern New Jersey</st1:place>: Metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing drug carbamazepine. Upstate <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> Watershed: Caffeine. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>: Sex hormone. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Last year, Environmental Data Resources ranked <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s most toxic cities, defined by the amount of man-made chemical in each area's soil. 10. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cincinnati</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 22,992 Leaking storage tanks: 1,719 | Corrective action reports: 44 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 46,299 Leaking storage tanks: 1,333 Corrective action reports: 30 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 64,541 Leaking storage tanks: 5,458 Corrective action reports: 70 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7. San Diego Contaminated Sites: 51,009 Leaking storage tanks: 3,740 Corrective action reports: 18 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Indianapolis</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 33,857 Leaking storage tanks: 1,206 Corrective action reports: 34 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5. Minneapolis-St. Paul Contaminated Sites: 65,969 Leaking storage tanks: 4,444 Corrective action reports: 52 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 271,360 Leaking storage tanks: 9,920 Corrective action reports: 159 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Portland</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 62,466 Leaking storage tanks: 20,655 Corrective action reports: 10 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Milwaukee</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 47,531 Leaking storage tanks: 3,872 Corrective action reports: 41 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1. <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:place></st1:City> Contaminated Sites: 88,284 Leaking storage tanks: 0 Corrective action reports: 23 Source: businessweek.com …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….